In 2014, Crocs conducted its second annual greenhouse gas emission inventory, collecting emission data from its factories and corporate headquarters.

Crocs intended to expand its GHG inventory to include retail stores; however, company reorganization has impacted its retail footprint, making it difficult to collect this data.

Total direct and indirect GHG emissions at Croc’s owned manufacturers, contract manufacturers and headquarters went up 8.75 percent in 2014 compared to 2013. In 2013, the company produced 56,774 metric tons of CO2-e, and in 2014 the company produced 61,744 metric tons of CO2-e.

Water

Total water use in factories increased 2.8 percent from 3.24 million gallons in 2013 to 3.34 million gallons in 2014.

Employee water use at factory dormitories and water used in manufacturing are included on the same meter.

Waste

The company’s production of non-hazardous waste went down almost 18 percent in 2014 compared to 2013.

To encourage responsible disposal of non-hazardous waste at its corporate headquarters, Crocs has placed recycling bins throughout its buildings. The company uses a third party to manage its recyclable items.

Crocs produced 120.3 tons of hazardous waste in 2014, a 14 percent jump from 2013.

Energy use at Crocs factories jumped 20 percent from 266.34 million megajoules in 2013 to 320.42 million megajoules in 2014.

Electricity use at the company’s headquarters dropped 11 percent, from 585,971 kWh in 2013 to 520,946 kWh in 2014.

Natural gas use at the company’s headquarters dropped 7 percent, from 34, 220 therms in 2013 to 31,808 therms in 2014.

The company implemented a number of energy efficiency initiatives at its corporate headquarters in 2014, including installing motion sensors and TA 6 fluorescent lights.

The average energy used per pair of Crocs shoes produced has remained relatively consistent over the last three years.

Data and Reporting

Crocs aligned its 2014 Sustainability Report to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3.1 guidelines at a Level C, with the goal of transitioning to G4 guidelines.

Takeaway: The report reflects a mixed bag of sustainability wins and losses. Following Crocs first sustainability report in 2012, the company is now benchmarking on 2013 and 2014 goals and has several initiatives in place to improve 2015 sustainability performance.

It would also be interesting to compare the data based on “intensity” values (i.e. per unit of production) for the years 2013 & 2014 in order to present a more accurate picture that takes into consideration variation in production levels.